Campbell’s Employee Fired for Reporting Conversation Where his Boss Trashed the Company
Campbell’s Co.’s IT chief has been fired and an employee terminated last January has filed a lawsuit, all connected to a secretly recorded conversation in which the IT executive disparaged Campbell’s products.
Robert Garza, a cybersecurity analyst with the food company, apparently was having a discussion early this year regarding salary with Martin Bally, Campbell’s vice president of information technology.
Garza secretly recorded the conversation – audio of which was on Detroit Free press’ website – in which Bally can be heard saying he doesn’t buy Campbell’s food, using a vulgar term to describe it. He said it’s meant for poor people, it’s bioengineered and its chicken is made by a 3D printer. He also disparaged Indian employees of the company.
Garza apparently made his immediate supervisor, J.D. Aupperle, aware of the incident, although nothing immediately transpired. Then Garza was fired Jan. 30.
Garza’s lawsuit – filed Nov. 20 in Wayne Co., Mich., court because he and Bally both live there – alleges racial discrimination, racial harassment and retaliation. Defendants are Bally, Aupperle and Campbell’s Co., which is based in New Jersey.
In a statement posted today (Nov. 26) to its website, Campbell’s said, “After a review, we believe the voice on the recording is in fact Martin Bally. The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused. This behavior does not reflect our values and the culture of our company, and we will not tolerate that kind of language under any circumstances. As of November 25, Mr. Bally is no longer employed by the company.
“The comments heard on the recording about our food are not only inaccurate – they are patently absurd.” Campbell’s noted in an earlier statement that Bally, being an IT employee, had nothing to do with how the company makes its food.
“The chicken meat in our soups comes from long-trusted, USDA approved U.S. suppliers and meets our high quality standards,” the company concluded. “All our soups are made with No Antibiotics Ever chicken meat. Any claims to the contrary are completely false.”
About the Author
Dave Fusaro
Editor in Chief
Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.